Concentrator



Dec. 25, 1934.

C. F. M CLEERY CONCENTRATOR Filed May 24, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l z zu i 9 M ATTORNEYS Dec. 25, 1934;. c. F. McCLEERY CONCENTRATOR Filed May 24, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mm mm Wm g, INVENTOR. W f 'un BY waftzazzw ATTQRNEYS.

Patented Dec. 25, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to concentrators, and more particularly to machines of the general type used for the extraction of values from sand, gravel and other earthy matter, by what is commonly known as the dry method of concentration.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple machine which, subject to a substantially constant feed, will cleanly separate gold and other metals from the gangue or worthless matter in material under treatment, in a continuous operation.

Another object is to provide a simple, transportable concentrating machine particularly adapted for use in placer mining.

Other objects reside in the construction, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter to be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a concentrating machine constructed in accordance with the present invention, has been shown in practical and operative form.

In the drawings, in the several views of which like parts are similarly designated,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the concentrator,

Figure 2, a rear elevation of the machine, looking in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 1,

Figure 3, a sectional view of the rotary pan of the machine in which the values are extracted from the material under treatment.

Figure 4, a sectional plan view of the pan, drawn to an enlarged scale, and

Figure 5,. a section taken on the line 5-5, Figure 6.

Referring further to the drawings, the concentrator which is transportable for its movement from one location to another, consists of a sledbase 5 supporting two upright standards 6 and '7. At the upper ends of the standard 6 is a bearing box 8 for the support of a rotary shaft 9, carrying at one end a pulley 10 for its connection with a conveniently located motor, and at its opposite end a frictional driving disk 12.

The disk engages a friction wheel 13 of smaller diameter, on the shaft 14 of a concentrating pan 15 hereinafter to be more fully described.

The shaft 14 is rotatably supported in a slanting position, in a frame 16 which is supported in a box 17 on the other standard 7. A spring 18 in the box 17 holds the wheel 13 in frictional contact with the face of the disk 12, and a screw 19 is provided to regulate the tension of the spring. The frame 16 is held in its slanting position by a rod 20 pivotally connected with the base, as at 21, and extending through an apertured lug 22 on the frame 16. A nut 23 on the screw-threaded end portion of the rod, serves to vary the slant of. the frame and to hold it in its adjusted positions. 1

The pan 15, in which the concentrationprocess is performed, has a circular flat bottom 24 fixed at the end of and atright angles to the slanting shaft.

A rim 25 projects upwardly at the periphery of the bottom, and a cover plate 26 for the pan is spaced from the edge of the rim 25. The cover plate is fixed with relation to the frame, by means of a pair of suspension rods 2'? connected to an arm 28 extending upwardly from the frame 16, and it has a rim 29 which overhangs the rim of the pan and which is cut away at the lower portion of the pan, as at 30, to permit of the discharge of gangue in the operation of the machine.

Fastened upon the cover at the lower portion thereof, and to one side of the axis of rotation of the pan, rearward with relation to the direction of its rotary movement, is a feed hopper 31 which at its top has a slanting screen 32 to separate boulders, stones and other coarse matter from the material fed onto the same.

On the bottom of the pan is a spiral ridge 33 which Winds from the inner periphery of the rim in a direction opposite to the direction of the rotation, toward a central opening 34, in

the bottom 24, through which the concentrates are discharged. The shaft 14 is tubular so that the concentrates discharged into the hole 34, may pass through the shaft into a suitable receptacle placed below the lower end thereof.

The spiral ridge gradually decreases in height from its outer end inwardly and the spaces between its convolutions likewise decrease in width from the periphery of the pan toward the center of the same.

At the outer end of the spiral ridge at which it adjoins the rim of the pan, is a plow 35 which, in the operation of the machine, serves to turn the material over from the outer convolutions of the spiral inwardly, as the pan revolves about its axis. In the operation of the machine, the loose material is thrown onto the screen at the top of the hopper, either manually or by the use of a suitable conveyor.

The material passing through the hopper falls onto the bottom of the pan to one side of the lower portion thereof and is thrown inwardly by the plow as it passes the region at which the material is fed into the pan.

The rotary motion of the pan in the direction of the arrow B in Figure 4, tends to cause the material to move in the spiral trough 36 toward the center, while the heavier and valuable metals of the material settle to the bottom of the spiral trough by specific gravity to move gradually toward the discharge-opening 34. The coarser and lighter matter spills continually across the edges of the convolutions of the spiral trough, and is ultimately discharged across the rim of the pan at the lower portion of the same at which the rim of the cover is cut away.

As the values advance toward the center of the pan, the amount of gangue or worthless matter, decreases and since the height of the ridge is correspondingly lessened, this remaining gangue will likewise pass across the ridge until only the values remain in the trough. These values pass through the opening 34 into the hollow shaft 14 to be delivered into a suitable receptacle placed below the same.

The material is continuously fed into the hopper, causing a continuous discharge of concentrates into the central opening of the pan, and a simultaneous continuous discharge of gangue across the rim of the same.

The slant of the pan may be varied in accordance with the nature of the material under treatment, and the rotary movement of the pan may be regulated by adjustment of the friction pulley 13 on the shaft 14.

The cover 26 prevents material from falling into the spiral trough of the pan except through the hopper 31, and the screen at the upper end of the latter, separates boulders, stones and other coarse matter from the material before it enters the pan.

It is to be understood that changes in the construction and arrangement of the elements comprised in the concentrator, may be made Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A concentrator comprising a pan mounted to rotate about a slanting axis, and having a discharge opening centrally of its bottom surface, an upstanding rim at the periphery of said surface, a spiral trough winding from said rim inwardly to the discharge opening, and a plow at the outer end of the trough to turn material fed into the pan inwardly from its rim.

CLYDE F. McCLEERY. 

